Photographers share their 2016 favorites

Over a year, Angela Diaz slowly lost her mobility - she couldn't open a jar or do her daughters' hair. When she was finally diagnosed with mixed-connective tissue disease, and autoimmune disease, her life changed.
Kate Penn

At the end of each year we ask our photographers to reflect on their favorite photos and videos. The stories they cover are heartwarming, insightful and funny insights into life in York County.

Kate Penn

Angela Diaz's story is one of dedication and perseverance. When an autoimmune disease began to rob her of her ability to care for herself and her children, she fought back. Daily exercise was crucial to maintaining strength and mobility. Even when it hurt — especially when it hurt — she'd force herself into the gym, slowly repeating exercises until her joints loosened up.

She had every excuse to take it easy.

Instead, she trained for a bodybuilding competition — just to prove that she could do it, that her disease wouldn't stop her.

It's cold and dark when my alarm goes off in the morning. Sometimes I want to skip my workout and stay in bed. On those days I think of Angela, of how much she has to push through, and I get my butt out of bed. I'm inspired by stories like hers — of pushing boundaries and working hard to achieve what seems impossible.

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Gumercindo Minaya and his grandson, 6-year-old Nelvin Minaya, stand among the corn they planted on North Hartley Street at Madison Avenue in York this summer. Gumercindo's daughter, Dolores Minaya, says knew he was planting corn in her backyard but didn't realize he'd also planted along their sidewalk until it was too late.(Photo11: Kate Penn, York Daily Record)

When a photo of corn growing along a York city sidewalk circulated on social media this summer, it caught my attention. There had to be a story. I made some calls, knocked on doors and eventually met the man behind the corn.

Gumercindo Minaya grew corn everywhere he lived. So when he came for an extended visit with his daughter who lived in York, he planted it here too. Minaya's grandson, Nelvin, showed me around the makeshift cornfield with his grandfather, and the bond between them was evident. They were welcoming, kind, generous and genuine — promising that if I returned later in the year they'd treat me to an ear of corn.

Paul Kuehnel

Taking a break from some adult talk, Brandon Hollinger gets comfortable inside the large wheel of a John Deere chopper at the York Expo. It's hard to find candid moments at trade shows. It's rewarding to find good moments while photographing an annual event that you've covered for many years.

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Taking a break from some adult talk, Brandon Hollinger gets comfortable inside the large wheel of a John Deere chopper. It's hard to find candid moments at trade shows. It's rewarding to find good moments in the flow of day to day events.
Brandon Hollinger, age 9, of Franklin County, right relaxes in the huge wheel of John Deere chopper during the Keystone Farm show at the York Expo Wednesday January 6, 2016, while his father, left, Curtis talks with Lamar Stoltzfus, second from left, both of Agri-NutritionConsulting. talk about fitting the chopper with a device that can add liquid ingredients to the silage as it comes off the field. (Photo11: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

Fear, distrust, embarrassment are among the many reasons people don't want to talk to a news organization. The press conferences, events and scheduled meetings for stories that the reporter and subject agree upon ahead of time can yield an insulated view of the world, missing many who are less easily reported on.

After receiving a random call to the newsroom about people living under the Princess Street bridge, I walked under the bridge to find out who was living there. After 15 minutes of chatting, the bridge residents began giving me some insight into the paths in life that led them there.

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Casey Bowling, age 35, and Marty Albaladejo, age 18, talk about life beneath a bridge in York and how they became homeless.
Paul Kuehnel

Jason Plotkin

I'd be lying if I said being a father didn't influence my pick for my favorite photo of 2016. If it is possible to have a private moment surrounded by nearly 100,000 people, I think Penn State head coach James Franklin had one after the Nittany Lions beat Michigan State to secure a spot in the Big 10 championship. You could almost feel the entire world disappear when his daughters Shola and Addy ran up and tackle hugged Franklin. Heck, even the Pa. State Trooper beside them was enjoying the moment.

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Penn State head coach James Franklin is embraced by his daughters after the Nittany Lions defeated Michigan State 45-12 to win the Big 10 East Championship in State College on Nov. 26, 2016.(Photo11: Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record)

I meet a lot of people over the course of a year. But very few inspired me the way Cody Zinn did. The volunteer firefighter with Newberry Township didn't let his limitations due to Cerebral Palsy hold him back from doing what he loves to do: help people.

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Despite his limitations, Cody Zinn with the Newberry Township Fire Department, does his best to help out both his community and his brothers in the fire service.

Chris Dunn

After years of living in foster care, on friends' couches and in group homes, Morgan Washington-Henry had just moved into a place of her own for the first time, in York. She graciously welcomed me to observe as she turned her three-room apartment into a home. This photo was taken the week before she was to finally get some furniture, including a bed and mattress. Sitting on the comforter on the floor that was her bed, dining table and couch, Morgan was excited to dig into a takeout container of food a friend had given her. But first, in a moment that caught me by surprise, she bent her head and said grace.

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Sitting on the comforter that's been her bed for the past month, Morgan Washington-Henry says grace over a take-out container of food a friend bought for her in her York apartment Oct. 20, 2016. She planned to get a bed and mattress in the next week. Washington-Henry, 19, and her four older siblings lived with their grandmother in Harford County, Maryland, until she died when Washington-Henry was 12. Washington-Henry spent the next five years living with a relative, in foster care and a group home until she aged out of the state's system. After couch-surfing with friends and working at a York County summer camp, Washington-Henry was referred to Bell Family Shelter in York, where she stayed for 27 days before finally moving into an apartment of her own for the first time.(Photo11: Chris Dunn, York Daily Record)

When reporter Mark Walters and I pounded the pavement for a long-term story about the recovery house community in York, we knew that getting recovering addicts to trust us enough to speak to us, on the record, would be an ongoing challenge. In the end, nearly 20 recovery house residents were willing to let us quote or photograph them. Perhaps the most candid of them all was Allison Foust, who lived in a recovery house after years of addiction. She bravely and generously shared her story on video with us, allowing me to follow her as she lived her life of recovery, and I wish her all the best.

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Allison Foust, 35, shares her story of drug addiction and recovery as she lives in a recovery house in York, Pa.
Chris Dunn, York Daily Record

Eileen Joyce

My favorite photo of the year was one of only a few things I managed to photograph. I spent a lot of the year focused on video, but when we heard reports that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was eating dinner at the White Rose I dropped everything and grabbed my camera. When he left the restaurant after dinner there was a scrum of well-wishers and journalists vying for Sanders' attention. He happily signed autographs and took photos, then was on his way to Lancaster. York's only presidential candidate visit was a short dinner stop, but I was there to capture the excitement of the moment.

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A staffer takes a photo of Bernie Sanders with Chip Becker of York. The Democratic presidential candidate greeted supporters outside the White Rose Bar and Grill in York after he stopped for dinner on April 22, 2016.(Photo11: Eileen Joyce, York Daily Record)

There are a few fans of 'Hamilton' in the York Daily Record newsroom, and we often talked about York's connection to the Marquis de Lafayette who is a character in the musical. I wanted to find a fun way to approach that connection when I learned the York Revolution had a Lafayette bobble head giveaway planned. Well, one thing led to another, and soon I was shooting a music video to accompany a York-focused parody of one of the songs. Everyone we met while shooting the project was excited to see the finished product and happy to help out. It ended up being a fun way to showcase York while learning a little more about Lafayette and the York Revolution.

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'Hamilton' parody song honors Lafayette in York. A Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association judge evaluating this video as part of 2016 Newspaper of the Year competition said: "Loved the Hamilton piece! Great to see you using humor in various pieces."
Eileen Joyce, York Daily Record